Robin Thicke’s #AskThicke Q&A Backfires Big Time

It was the Twitterverse vs. Robin Thicke when the hashtag #AskThicke for the singer’s VH1 Twitter chat on Tuesday went viral beforehand -- in the worst possible way. Far from the typical “Who are your inspirations?” or “Which artist would you love to do a duet with?” questions, the #AskThicke hashtag was overrun with Internet trolls wanting to know why he celebrated misogyny in his music, why his estranged wife, Paula Patton, would ever want him back, and what it’s like being the “human personification of a midlife crisis.”

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Here’s a sampling of the vitriolic (and admittedly very clever) tweets:

How many times do you expect Paula to forgive your bs because obviously the last 127,000 times weren’t enough #askthicke

What form of sexual or emotional abuse will you be normalising in your next jaunty hit? #AskThicke

#askthicke Now that you've made it commercially viable to be a creepingly insidious, misogynistic sexual predator; What's next for you?

How often should I delete my internet search history? You strike me as a good person to ask. #AskThicke

#AskThicke It might seem like some of the questions on this hashtag are cruel and abusive but Robin, I know you want it

#AskThicke Do you know the line you'll have to sign on the divorce papers won't be blurred?

Train A leaves the station at 40mph and train B leaves at 55mph, how far is the judge going to order you to stay away from Paula #AskThicke

The tweets on #AskThicke are like a Christmas present wrapped in a hug. A sarcastic, consensual hug.

Besides rapey thoughts and general misogyny, what inspires you? #AskThicke

#AskThicke Are you going to play your new album on a boom box over your head outside Paula's house? That usually works.

Interesting that both #AskThicke and #DrHobbyLobby are trending. Both involve blurred lines, be they between church/state or coercion/date.

Will you retract your statement of "I know you want me" now that you know beyond a reasonable doubt that she does not? #AskThicke

For many critics, the R&B star -- who released his obvious plea for reconciliation with his wife, aptly titled Paula, on Tuesday -- is a sleaze of the first order. He’s been photographed groping fans, he never really acknowledged his role in the raunchy MTV Video Music Awards performance of “Blurred Lines” with Miley Cyrus last year, and women everywhere have been disgusted by the rape-baiting undertones of that hit song (“You know you want it”).

Then, of course, there’s his disintegrating marriage with Patton (with whom he has a 4-year-old son, Julian). The high-school sweethearts announced their separation in February after 23 years together amid allegations of cheating. And Thicke has made no secret of his attempts to woo her back -- including his video for the pleading ballad “Get Her Back,” featuring breakup texts flashed across the screen as a bloodied and beaten-up Thicke desperately sings for her return. This past weekend, he even Instagrammed a vintage photo of himself with Patton with the caption “To my #ForeverLove.” Sweet? Some people may think so, but it also seems like he’s paying penance for some serious wrongdoing.

So, it’s no real surprise that Robin Thicke fans didn’t come out in droves to extol the virtues of his talent for his Twitter chat. One tweet said it all: “#AskThicke how does it feel to be a less talented, more hated, bootlegged version of Justin Timberlake?” Rather than racking up the accolades, he’s unfortunately just come across as a creep -- and the haters are more than happy to let him know.